SS evolution. My newest, the Stooge with 29 and 650+. And my first SS built mostly from the parts bin. It was plenty fast at the time, since everyone else was on 26" too. Drank the Kool Aid in '98, basically built it around a Surly 1x1 hub someone gave me. Laced some wheels, added some sweet Krylon flames, and I was hooked.
I'm new to this forum I've been signed up for a little while now but this would be my first post here is my one and only mtb I bought it brand new in 2011 and since then I've changed almost everything that was stock
Just finished building this 2014 Kona Honzo as a rigid ss. I had the frame powder coated Kawasaki green and put new decals on. Stupid fun :thumbsup:
Build:
Voodoo 500 rigid fork
cane creek 40 HS
thomson stem
Azonic bars
ODI grips
Stans wheelset with Flow rims, Stans 330 rear and 330 HD front hub.
Deore brakeset
34t Blackspire ring
Forte platform pedals
Old thread, new pain. Rode my Karate Monkey SS with a 29x2.4 tire up front, 29x2.25 rear, Vassago rigid fork, wide aluminum bar, dropper post, yadda yadda. I was riding with a large group and I was one of two people on a singlespeed hardtail, and the only one with a rigid fork.
Normally I ride these trails with a rigid fork and have a grand old time, but the speed I needed to maintain to keep the last rider in front of me in view meant I got really beat up in the rocky sections. It was brutal. I keep my tire pressure as low as it is safe to do without pinching the tire and I still feel like I spent those two hours inside a cement mixer truck.
The problem is mostly the front wheel- I just can't "pick the right line" at that speed, on the kind of terrain and the rocks kill my momentum, along with my wrists.
I was thinking a 29+ tire on a wider rim would help, but that would mean building a new wheel and buying an expensive tire. I'll see if I can borrow one and maybe build that when I can justify the expense (I blew my bike parts budget out of the water recently.)
what's your experience with 29+ front wheels on rigid? What's the limit at which it is just not practical?
Not interested in carbon fiber anything, for a variety of reasons. If it comes down to that, I'll just put my squish fork back on for keeping speed in the rough stuff. Make bikes metal again!
People ride fat fronts on rigid bikes, so the limit is pretty far out there.
I much prefer a 29+, I've run a 3" on my older KM.
The easiest way would just buy an Innova Transformer for ~$30 and slap it on your current rim. You don't need a 40mm+ rim to run a plus tire. I run mine on Blunt 35s (30mm internal), no problems.
I'll probably disqualify from this thread now by going "semi rigid" with a Lauf TR Boost fork that's on its way for my singlespeed Cotic Simple 29. I decided to give my hands and wrists a break when I had to replace my fork since I've built a pair of new wheels and chose 110x15 mm front hub. I'm not prepared to go all in and get a RS Pike. Not yet. I'll mount 29x2.6" Kenda Hellkat Pro 120 tpi front and Kenda Nevegal2 Pro 120 tpi rear 29x2.6". Also a 800 mm wide Chromag carbon handlebar equipped with soft and chunky foam grips.
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